May, 2008

I didn't quite like the story-telling in this movie by Brian de Palma. Why do you make the story clear by making characters retelling it if you want to tell things obscurely? Overall, not bad to watch with a couple of friends.

Watched this movie when I was a kid and haven't had the chance to watch this since then. This is a very interesting movie adapted from a Kemal Tahir novel. The title literally means "reversed world" - and the movie shows us a world dominated by women, etc.

Quite challenging movie because you are forced to watch the movie from a canted frame most of the time. The story of a guy, who has locked-in syndrome after a stroke (audience-character point of views are pretty similar, eh? We are paralized sitting in the dark room as well). Anyway, a very good movie that manages to tell the story while avoiding emotional exploitation.

March, 2008

A highschool revenge movie, where the bully is taken to a boat. But things go out of control, and so on. This could be a better movie if they removed the "oh my god, what have we done!" part, and if they focused more on the travel, etc.

The first movie was good, the next one was.. not really good, and this one just sucks. Ok, all we expect is to be entertained for two hours, but come on. This sucks - nothing but a couple of handsome stars.

Awesome and candid movie about two weird people and their affection to each other. In other words, this is an extraordinary romantic comedy with video games, high school revenge, and odd things. Highly recommended!

One of the best movies I have seen lately. A woman trying to have abortion illegally and a friend helping her. Actions in the slow-paced movie, the 'feast' scene in the middle and the last dinner scene are awesome. Highly recommended.

A probably-exhibitionist kid that masturbates using a public library shelf and likes to rub his semen to books and school locker doors, and likes to listen to Tangerine Dream while drinking beer or whiskey, and an older teenager who is obsessed with sleeping with the best girl he can get while he's a virgin himself. Oh, and a pretty dysfunctional family and a fucked up father. The movie resembles Catcher in the Rye with some minor points like the History Museum and the lake scene. I can't say the movie really impressed me but it wasn't that bad.

February, 2008

A documentary on male identical twins. One of them turns out to be gay when he grows up. And the other one is a transgendered, who eventually goes through a sexual reattribution operation. Although at some points the movie sort of tries to convey a journalistic sentimentalism, I thought it was quite successful. The relationships of these twins with their parents as well as other people they know are portrayed quite successfully and sincerely.

An episodic documentary on the contemporary composer Philip Glass. I don't really like these kind of documentaries as they tend to draw upon the romantic artist ideal, which is a lie. The movie won't make you think that Glass is a true emotional hero, who is also a genius. Well, he might be, but the thing is, the movie does in fact portray a real-life Glass in his domestic as well as professional life with very interesting things to see. Recommended if you are into contemporary music and/or Glass.

A very interesting movie and highly recommended. I would really prefer to see more insight on the part of the protagonist kid Alejandro - which is sacrificed for a slow-paced series of actions that go nowhere.

January, 2008

My thoughts are split for this movie. Ok, this is a good comedy and it makes you laugh, so 'high five' for this one. However, there are a couple of problems as well. I am not really sure on how to approach to this movie, as it both stereotypes Kazakh people (who are not really Kazakh) as well as Americans. So, the movie can be read as a joke on stereotyping as well. However, the music is not Kazakh, the language the supposedly Kazakh people speak is not Kazakh. I am not a fan of 'realism' on movies, but when it comes to this kind of representation, I look for fidelity. Still, funny enough to disregard these. I especially liked the mishearing of retired as retarted. :)

December, 2007

Great animation. However, there are a couple of little problems that I thought that was problematical. The language and the title of the movie to be precise... Alexander founded the city Persepolis, and the story in Iran is set in Tehran... And even the policemen in Iran speak French... Ok, the grown-up Marjane is narrating the story so language use is justified, but what about the title? Looking at Iran from European perspective? Just some food for thought, but great story indeed.

Ok... We all love The Simpsons etc etc... And this movie includes The Simpsons school of irony, sarcasm and comedy, but this is not as good as the series. I understand that it's hard to turn a 20 minute show into a full-length cinema movie, but still, it's not the best Simpsons story that could ever be filmed... Still, I'll give a high rating because I'm a fan of The Simpsons :)

0.3

July, 2007

This is a comedy-thriller movie about what a protective mom becomes: a serial mom - err killer. Apparently the filmmakers tried to have a bizarre atmosphere with a mainstream touch. A failure in this respect, still not bad.

If you were a child in the late 80s and early 90s, I bet you love Transformers. I went to see the long-awaited movie and I liked it. Sure, I'm sick of all those high-tech CGI effects and all but, hey, don't we all adore Optimus Prime? :) Anyway, it's one of those inter-generic movies: a love story, action, good-evil, nerd-jerk, fight scenes and so on. The movie doesn't offer more than what meets the eye, but go watch it!

I had to watch this movie in class for a feminism course. The copy we had was an English dubbed version of this Mexican movie. I'm writing this months after I watchced the movie so I don't remember everything. But I remember something for sure: boredom. This was partly because (I think) the movie is an adaptation of a novel by a woman writer and the movie is by a male director. I don't know how the novel is but the movie is a women's film example. Masochism (in the sense of feminist criticism), sadness, tears, cheating and all the like for the ordinary women watching this movie... Bah, where are the chainsaws?

I've bought this boxset of Jess Franco movies earlier but haven't watched all the movies. They are all horror-erotic movies anyway. Well, If you are into this genre or if you are just a bizarre movie lover, you'll like it.